Zone tillage is an environmentally friendly farming practice used in conjunction with the planting and growing of row crops, such as corn and soybeans. In zone tillage, only narrow strips or zones corresponding to the location of the crop rows that will be planted are tilled and fertilized. The rest of the field between the zones is left untilled. The vegetation in the untilled areas between the zones acts, among other things, as an anchor for the soil, thereby preventing soil loss through erosion and the like.
The Applicant herein has invented a new method and tool for zone tillage which is disclosed in U.S. Publication No. 2006/0065412 published Mar. 30, 2006 and entitled ZONE TILLAGE TOOL AND METHOD. This published patent application is hereby incorporated by reference. The reader of this application is referred to this published patent application for more information and details on the practice of zone tillage and for a description of one tool and method that can be employed in this practice.
It is well known that animal waste, such as liquid manure, can be used as fertilizer. Many animal raising operations, such as large scale, modern hog farms and the like, have large numbers of animals that generate significant amounts of waste. This waste is allowed to drop down into collection pits that underlie the areas where such animals are confined. This waste comprises a combination of urine, manure and possibly some water and is a liquid with some solids suspended therein. The term liquid manure refers to this combination of waste and other substances, mostly liquid but containing some solids, that collect in such collection pits beneath animal confinement areas.
The liquid manure is pumped out of the collection pits into tanks or wagons. The tanks or wagons are then used to spread or apply the liquid manure to farm fields to fertilize the fields. Sometimes, the liquid manure is first pumped from the collection pits to holding ponds or holding tanks which store the liquid manure before it is used on the farm fields. However, in either case, namely whether the liquid manure is taken directly from the collection pits to the fields or is first temporarily held in a holding pond or tank, the ultimate objective is to use the liquid manure as fertilizer by applying it in some fashion to the farm fields.
There are various economic and environmental advantages to the farmer of using liquid manure as fertilizer. First, the cost of alternative chemical or petrochemical based fertilizers is very high and adds to the cost of raising the crop to which the fertilizer is applied. Liquid manure is often free to the farmer since it is generated by the farmer's own animals. Even if the farmer does not own any animals but obtains liquid manure from one who does, liquid manure is far less costly to obtain than alternative fertilizers. Thus, using liquid manure as fertilizer saves the farmer money and decreases the costs of producing the crop, thus increasing the farmer's profit, always a desirable goal.
Secondly, for a farmer who owns animals that generate large amounts of liquid manure, the farmer must find a way to dispose of the liquid manure. It cannot be allowed to build up indefinitely. Using the liquid manure as fertilizer allows the liquid manure to be recycled into the soil. The farmer does not have to haul the liquid manure to a sewage or waste treatment facility or find some other way to dispose of it. Thus, the liquid manure does not become a burden on public waste treatment facilities but is simply effectively reused in the production of crops.
Unfortunately, applying liquid manure to farm fields can be a difficult thing to do. This arises at least partly from the suspension of various solids or semi-solid materials in the liquid manure. These solids can comprise many things. For example, in the collection pits beneath the animal confinements areas, it is not uncommon to find the carcasses or carcass pieces of small animals that have died, twine or string, plastic containers such as pill bottles, etc. In the holding ponds that contain liquid manure, various plants can grow which add vegetative debris to the liquid manure, such as plant stalks, root balls, etc.
Attempts have been made to filter the liquid manure before it is applied in an attempt to remove the suspended solids. Many known manure distribution applicators have filter screens through which the liquid manure passes. However, such filters are not completely effective in removing the suspended solids. Some solids will compress enough to pass through the holes in the filter screen. Other solids may be shaped in such a way that they are narrow enough to pass through the holes in the filter screen but are relatively long, such as pieces of bone or long stalks of plant material. Thus, even after filtering, liquid material still contains various suspended solids of various sizes.
As a consequence of the suspension of such solids in the liquid manure, liquid manure can be pumped and distributed onto a farm field only through relatively large distribution hoses. Typically, such distribution hoses have needed a minimum diameter of 3″ to 4″. Such a large minimum diameter is needed to allow the solids that are still suspended in the liquid manure to pass through without plugging the hoses. Even so, the occasional suspended solid will still be larger than the diameter of the hose and will plug the hose when forced into the hose. This means that the farmer has to remove the plug. This is a dirty, time consuming and inconvenient task.
The use of relatively large diameter distribution hoses means that liquid manure is applied to farm fields at relatively high rates. Such large hoses mean that large amounts of liquid manure will be pumped through the hoses and reach a certain area of ground as the distribution vehicle moves over the field. This is a waste of liquid manure as it need not be applied to the field in such large quantities, particularly when one considers zone tillage. The only parts of the field that have to be fertilized in a field that has been zone tilled are the small narrow strips or zones in which the row crops will grow. Pumping liquid manure onto such zones through 4″ diameter hoses is a gross over application of liquid manure.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a more effective and efficient application of liquid manure to a farm field, particularly to a field that has been zone tilled. It would be desirable to be able to apply the liquid manure at far lower rates than those possible in the past to the zones in a zone tilled farm field.